


Grissom Academy

by Iarinthel



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Gen, No Fluff, No Porn, That's it, if that doesn't sound interesting then feel free not to read, just Kahlee talking to Jack about her teaching methods, nothing else, this is really just a day in Grissom Academy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 10:52:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11690112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iarinthel/pseuds/Iarinthel
Summary: Just a day where Kahlee goes over Jack's teaching methods. Not everyone agrees that her methods were the best, but they couldn't argue the results.





	Grissom Academy

On any other day of the year the students would be indoors listening to a lesson. They’d be sitting down on their desks paying attention to a lecture about how best to deal with shielded enemies or what kind of biotic skill to use against armoured ones. That would be a typical day.

Today is not a typical day. Today, their teacher is gruelling them on how to fight against a fellow biotic. By being the enemy biotic herself and throwing them around like dolls against the padded walls of the room. Biotically. Which means with enough force to leave bruises, even when she tries to pull her punches. 

“Why can’t we go back inside?”  
“Because, Ensign Hill, you’re learning how to put your biotics to practical use. And if I have to drag you out kicking and screaming to learn, I _will_.”

Jack is different from other teachers in Grissom Academy. She’s strict but fair. She listens to them when they tell her a different way to use biotics like Pull, like using it to get the vid remote without having to stand up. She prefers teaching using a more hands-on approach and she dislikes sitting in her desk for longer than 10 minutes.

She’s also tattooed from her neck down and swears like a sailor.

Of course, in a space station outdoors is more like indoors but with less desks. ‘Just more space to let loose,’ as Jack would put it. Which she’s relishing in, as Sarah Hill herself can attest to.

“I’m going to be feeling this tomorrow.”  
“Good. Then that means I’m doing my job.”  
“Is there any way we can convince you to do your job differently? Less painfully, maybe?”  
“No pain, no gain.”

She punctuates her words with a Shockwave, at which point Hill is rolling as far as she possibly can from her teacher and her biotics from hell. Being on the business end of those is painful in a way that getting Thrown is not. And she has more than enough bruises to prove it.

“At least warn us before you do that!”  
“Your enemies won’t warn you when they attack, and neither will I!”

So it goes for the rest of the 3 hours they have for her ‘practical application class’, as she calls it. ‘Torture and cruel and unusual punishment’ is what her students know it as. Kahlee watches on a vid on her computer with a friend. Mrs. Joanna Smith is a teacher in Grissom Academy for 5 years, and in all her time she’s never seen any teacher teach the way that Jack is doing now. She has reservations for how well it works.

“Her teaching style is very...unique.”  
“Yes, and her class is well known for turning out some of the strongest biotics in the Academy.”  
“Strength in biotics is always about control. I don’t entirely see where exactly she’s teaching that.”  
“Of course she’s teaching just that. Have you seen the control she has over her own biotics?”  
“I see students being thrown around like crash dummies in a skycar test drive.”  
“And yet none of the students are worse for wear by it.”  
“We’ve had parents calling in about the numerous bruises she leaves her students with. They’re complaining that we’re being overly harsh on them.”  
“A few bruises will be nothing compared to what they’ll have to deal with outside our walls, Mrs, Smith.”  
“It’ll be years before any of them will see a battlefield, Ms.Sanders.”  
“Maybe, but better prepared than not at all.”

With a small hmph, Mrs. Smith walks out of the room, heels clicking in her wake. Kahlee could only shake her head before she sees another familiar face. Jack’s smirk would be infuriating if it had been directed at Kahlee rather than Mrs. Smith’s back. Once the clicking faded, Jack turned to Kahlee to ask.

“So?”  
“Hmm?”  
“How’d it go?”  
“Well enough. Mrs, Smith still isn’t entirely on board but she won’t call for you to be fired. Apparently the parents are worried about the bruises you leave on their kids.”  
“Pssh, that’s nothing. Wait till they see what’s waiting for them out there.”  
“Jack...”

Jack walks into the room with her usual confident stance, spine straight, languid pace, and her boots leaving a noticeable thump as she walks. In every inch of her she stands out in a way that singles her out as someone with the confidence of a predator. Some of the students and a few of the teachers in the Academy are intimidated by her, especially after having seen one of her training vids. Kahlee however is glad she was able to snap up Jack, her potential as a teacher is unpolished but given time and experience she could become one of the best teachers in Grissom Academy.

“What? You know it’s true.”  
“Be that as it may, you still need to find a way to lessen the fears of the parents. If enough of them complain, or if someone with connections complain to the wrong person you could get fired.”  
“What’re they gonna do, a dick attack or something?”  
“Excuse me?”  
“You know, when someone grabs their - ah, nevermind.”  
“Moving on… Jack, you need to find a way to keep your students from getting too many bruises. Or at the very least, make sure to teach your students how to deal with the injuries you inflict on them.”  
“Hey, I’m a teacher, not a doctor.”  
“Teach them first aid. If you don’t know how, I can arrange a seminar for you to attend.”  
“...I’ll think about it.”

Jack stood near the console showing the vid of a recent training session with her kids. The one where Ensign Hill finally found her voice and used it to sass her. It made her so proud.

“Jack…”  
“Hm?”  
“Have you heard?”  
“About what?”  
“Commander Shepard being put on house arrest.”  
“Heard about it. So?”  
“Anderson tells me that they’ve been spreading word about an upcoming invasion.”  
“By the Reapers, yeah. It’ll get real nasty if we don’t prepare.”  
“Do you think they’ll come here?”  
“Possibly. Or Cerberus might. Who knows, the Reapers might use Cerberus to bring in our kids and do what they did to me.”  
“...Do you know how we can prepare for the eventuality?”  
“I’ve got a few ideas, yeah.”

Kahlee and Jack both watch a short clip of the training session, contemplating.

“We may not have enough time to put them in place, but please tell me what you have in mind.”  
“Sure. On one condition.”  
“Condition?”  
“We get Orion Hall for training purposes.”  
“...You think it’ll be the most defensible area of the Academy.”  
“I don’t think, I know.”  
“Alright, you got it.”

A silent nod was all that Kahlee got as an answer, before Jack left the room. She can only hope that it’ll turn out for the best, because the worst has yet to come.


End file.
